What it takes to really know your sh*t

Tim Atkin MW has kindly supplied a link to the recent exam for the Master of Wine – http://t.co/ppxKrZW6 – the qualification “regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional knowledge*”.

The theory section is relatively straightforward (given that one has had three years to study) but its the practical exam that is simply mind bending. No wonder there are less than 300 MWs in the world. More people have been to space than have passed the exam.

Tarek Sakr: Lebanon’s only Master of Wine candidate

In the past two years, four MWs have been to Lebanon: Tim Atkin, Sarah Jane Evans, Derek Smedley and Mark Savage. A fifth, Jancis Robinson is due here in August. At the moment one Lebanese, Tarek Sakr, the winemaker at Chateau Musar is studying for the notoriously difficult exam. Given our national obsession with qualifications I am surprised more have not stepped up to the plate.